Ecological validity of the five digit test and the oral trails test / Validade ecológica do teste dos cinco dígitos e do oral trails test

ABSTRACT

ABSTRACT Tests evaluating the attentional-executive system are widely used in clinical practice. However, proximity of an objective cognitive test with real-world situations (ecological validity) is not frequently investigated. The present study evaluate the association between measures of the Five Digit Test (FDT) and the Oral Trails Test (OTT) with self-reported cognitive failures in everyday life as measured by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ). Brazilian adults from 18-to-65 years old voluntarily performed the FDT and OTT tests and reported the frequency of cognitive failures in their everyday life through the CFQ. After controlling for the age effect, the measures of controlled attentional processes were associated with cognitive failures, yet the cognitive flexibility of both FDT and OTT accounted for by the majority of variance in most aspects of the CFQ factors. The FDT and the OTT measures were predictive of real-world problems such as cognitive failures in everyday activities/situations.

RESUMO

RESUMO Testes que avaliam o sistema atencional-executivo são amplamente adotados no contexto clínico. Contudo, a proximidade de uma medida cognitiva objetiva com situações reais (validade ecológica) são pouco investigadas. O presente estudo objetiva avaliar a associação entre o Teste dos Cinco Dígitos (FDT) e o Oral Trails Test (OTT) com falhas cognitivas do dia a dia relatadas no Questionário de Falhas Cognitivas (CFQ). Sessenta adultos brasileiros, de 18 a 65 e cinco anos, realizaram o FDT e o OTT e reportaram a frequência das falhas cognitivas por meio do CFQ. Controlando o efeito da idade, as medidas de processos atencionais controlados foram associadas com as falhas cognitivas, sendo que o componente de flexibilidade cognitiva do FDT e do OTT explicou a maior parte da variância das falhas. O FDT e o OTT foram preditores de problemas reais do dia a dia, como as falhas cognitivas.